Potpourri: British film director Russell dead at 84

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - MAY 21: (FILE PHOTO) Director Ken Russell, 84, has reportedly died on November 27, 2011.
Please refer to the following profile on Getty Images Archival for further imagery of Ken Russell
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Director Ken Russell attends the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) presents the 35th Anniversary of The Who's "Tommy" on May 21, 2010 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - MAY 21: (FILE PHOTO) Director Ken Russell, 84,...

Ken Russell, an iconoclastic British director whose daring films blended music, sex and violence in a potent brew has died at age 84. Russell died in a hospital on Sunday after a series of strokes, his son Alex Verney-Elliott said Monday. Russell had one of his biggest hits in 1969 with Women in Love, based on the book by D.H. Lawrence Music also played a central role in many of Russell's films, including The Music Lovers in 1970, and Tommy, based on The Who's rock opera.

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